Eighteen former Pittsburgh Steelers came off the board in Monday Morning Quarterback’s all-time NFL draft, published on Wednesday.Some of the selected Steelers were http://www.authenticcowboyssale.com/shop-by-players-travis-frederick-jersey-c-2_54.html incredibly predictable, others were altogether obscure and, yes, there was a round for coaches in which Chuck Noll was picked.The 25-round draft board is understandably not sorted by NFL team, so we did that work for you below.It was carried out by 12 NFL experts, including MMQB editor-in-chief Peter King, under the assumption that great players of any era would’ve also been that great in anotherTheir rules, explainedSome notes on the Steelers, then all the Steelers drafted:Scrolling through this the names of Marion Motley and Walt Kiesling, across from the word "Pittsburgh" prompted double takes.Motley was a fourth-round pick and the fourth former Steeler taken in this draft. The running back only played in Pittsburgh for one year. He was with the Cleveland Browns from 1946-53 before suiting up for the Steelers in 1955, which was the last season of his career.Riesling, a guard, began his career with the http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-byron-jones-jersey-c-2_5.html Duluth Eskimoes in 1927 and finished it as a Pittsburgh Pirate – NFL teams did that back then – from 1937-38.Apart from a few career Steelers who had a spare year in other cities, those were the only players who had long careers elsewhere — other than Gary Anderson.The kicker is hardly forgotten. It's just a weird bend of history that one of the game's great kickers spent 13 seasons with one of the sport's more successful franchises without playing in a Super Bowl or even an AFC Championship game.Who liked Steelers the mostKing, former Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Colts and New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi and former NFL head of player personnel Joel Bussert each picked three Steelers.Bussert snagged Dermontti Dawson, Jack Butler and Alan Faneca while King picked up Jack Lambert, Franco Harris and – after trading http://www.authenticraiderssale.com/shop-by-players-tim-brown-jersey-c-2_26.html away Bill Belichick – Noll. Accorsi drafted Motley, John Stallworth and Anderson.Another historic reunionHall of Fame NFL executive Ron Wolf got Joe Greene and Mel Blount. All the other Steelers were scattered away from each other on the other nine teams.

The Pittsburgh Steelers, who open training camp on Friday in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, will have a familiar lineup as the season opens. Here's a starting lineup projection:OFFENSEQuarterback (Ben Roethlisberger): Roethlisberger http://www.authenticsaintsshop.com/shop-by-players-garrett-grayson-jersey-c-1_15.html enters his 14th season as a starter and is coming off his third consecutive Pro Bowl. He has arguably his best supporting cast in place in 2017.Tailback (Le'Veon Bell): Bell carried the Steelers at times in 2016 with an average of 157 total yards per game, third all time for running backs. Bell is 25 and should be entering his prime, though the Steelers could try to protect him with a reasonable workload.Wide receiver (Antonio Brown): Brown is eyeing a fifth straight 100-catch season, which has never been done. Brown is eager to produce after signing a four-year, $68 million extension.Wide receiver (Martavis Bryant): Under conditional reinstatement, Bryant must pass frequent drug tests and successfully complete his treatment to play in Week 1. The 25-year-old is on track to do so, and the big playmaker added http://www.authenticsteelerssale.com/shop-by-players-hines-ward-jersey-c-2_53.html about 10 pounds of muscle this offseason. Bryant is technically a new starter but doesn't seem like one.Wide receiver (Eli Rogers): Rogers has the chance to do damage in the slot while Brown and Bryant man the outside. Rogers had an uneven debut in 2016 but still came away with 48 catches for 594 yards.Tight end (Jesse James): The unquestioned starter for the first time, James is looking to build on his 10 catches for 131 yards in the Steelers' final two playoff games last season. James isn't a speedster, but he can be an effective red zone target.Left tackle (Alejandro Villanueva): Villanueva is often openly critical of his own play, but his performance during the second half of 2016 solidified his spot as a productive NFL left tackle.Left guard (Ramon Foster): Pro Football Focus ranked Foster as the No. 2 left guard after he didn't give up a sack in 2016. Foster dealt with offseason injuries but should be ready for camp.Center (Maurkice Pouncey): Pouncey is considered the Jack Butler Womens Jersey team's emotional leader and is glad to be healthy after missing most of 2013 and 2015 with serious injuries.Right guard (David DeCastro): As one of the NFL's highest-paid offensive guards, DeCastro was an All-Pro in 2015. He is an effective lead blocker in many of the Steelers' running sets.Right tackle (Marcus Gilbert): Gilbert has become one of the league's best right tackles and looks forward to the Week 1 matchup with the Cleveland Browns' top pick, Myles Garrett.

It’s good to have an opinion, a point of view, a side you’ve arrived at thoughtfully. Instead, “takes,” or even worse, “hot takes,” have http://www.officialvikingshop.com/shop-by-players-chuck-foreman-jersey-c-2_35.html invaded the sports landscape .Once you had ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters,” a roundtable of big city, big paper columnistswho’d seen it all offering wisdom and an experienced and very frequently accurate reading between the lines (and pictures).Now, you have the horrid “First Take,” Fox’s awful copycat “Undisputed,” the ridiculous “SportsNation” and the overly unserious “Around the Horn.”It turns out there are ratings in passion and too little intelligence among viewers to realize how contrived and false the purveyors of it are. Consider it the worst kind of televangelism coming to sports.Once you had Jim and Tammy and Paul and Jan, now you have the bloviation of Stephen A. Smith and sidekick Max Kellerman, old Bronco tight end Shannon Sharpe and the absolute king of false and farcical sports seriousness, Skip Bayless.By association, they give actual thoughtful discourse and meaningful positions a bad name. Nonetheless, here are a few.• The Masters is the third most important golf tournament in the world. Yeah, that’s right, third. Behind the Open Championship and the U.S. Open.You could even make a case The Players Championship is actually quite similar to the Masters — fantastic field, played at the same course every year, huge reward for the winner — just without its tortured history with race and privilege.Because of the micro-management of Augusta National and the willing collusion of CBS, the masses have come to believe the course Bobby http://www.officialvikingssale.com/shop-by-players-rhett-ellison-jersey-c-2_30.html Jones built to be the truest measure of a golfer the same way people believe diamonds to be exceedingly rare.They’re not, nor is the Masters the most meaningful 72 holes of golf.• Once ESPN made sports bigger, now it makes them smaller, and it has nothing to do with all its opinion shows.Remember Australian Rules football, Davis Cup Tennis, Canadian Football and Hartford Whaler hockey games?Once, they were all ESPN staples because the network couldn’t afford the rights fees the networks were paying. And guess what, viewers loved it. Loved it so much — as well as an end of the night SportsCenter that allowed everybody to stay up to date with everything — that eventually ESPN could afford the rights fees and now has basically replaced network sports. And in the wake of the outlier becoming the behemoth, all charm has been lost.Now we get more NFL than we know what to do with, more NBA than we can digest, more college football than we thought imaginable and less of everything else.The Olympics, for instance, once meant everything. Now they feel quaint.The grandeur of so many great things — horse racing, boxing, track and field, tennis, open-wheel racing, even baseball — has been lost.• Dallas’ best quarterback was Roger Staubach, not Troy Aikman and not Tony Romo. Sometimes, it’s not entirely about stats and championships, but what everybody saw with their own eyes.Aikman played for a machine, Staubach was death-defying by comparison. Place them on each other’s teams and who gets better and who doesn’t?The 70s Cowboys get worse and the 90s Cowboys do not.• It’s all about the money. Not a little about the money, but all about it.The college facilities arms race, conference L.P. Ladouceur Womens Jersey realignment, lowest-common-denominator sports programming, player movement in major team sports, the names of the stadiums in which we watch the games, the uniforms athletes wear.

Clayton Thorson likes to joke that his father, Chad, resembles Peyton Manning.And there they were, Chad and Peyton, at a http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-charles-haley-jersey-c-2_58.html dinner during the Manning Passing Academy in June.So did Thorson snap a picture of the two?"Nah, it was the wrong setting," he said Tuesday. "We'll get it sometime. Next year I'm going back, so…"And with that, Thorson offered his first clue regarding 2018. But it's non-binding.If Thorson has a terrific season in his third year as Northwestern's starter, he could opt to declare for the NFL draft. As you might have heard, the league craves talented quarterbacks. A year ago, Mitch Trubisky hadn't started a game at North Carolina."Do I believe he will be an NFL quarterback? Absolutely," NU coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "If it's after this year, that means he's had a really good year and that's win-win for everybody."At 6-foot-4 and 226 pounds, Thorson has the frame and arm strength to sling it in the pros. ESPN's Mel Kiper ranked him fifth among non-senior prospects behind USC's Sam Darnold, Wyoming's Josh Allen, UCLA's Josh Rosen and Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson of Louisville.Kiper separated out seniors, listing Oklahoma State's Mason Rudolph, Washington State's Luke Falk, Oklahoma's Baker Mayfield, Idaho's Matt Linehan and Western Kentucky's Mike White.Thorson got asked about the NFL enough during Big Ten media days that he developed a fairly stock reply: "It's something you strive for. At the same time, I realize I'm not there now. It's great that people say you've got some talent, but I don't put much into those talks. It doesn't matter if you don't perform."I'm so focused on our team and winning. Whether it's this http://www.authenticraiderssale.com/shop-by-players-shilique-calhoun-jersey-c-2_19.html year, next year, the Lord has a good plan in store. Right now I'm here, and it's the only thing I'm thinking about."Thorson made a leap as a redshirt sophomore last season, improving his completion percentage from 50.8 to 58.6 and his touchdown/interception split from 7/9 to 22/9.As a redshirt in 2014, Thorson learned from Trevor Siemian, who struggled through injuries as a senior (58.2 completion percentage, 7 TDs, 11 INTs) but won the job with the defending Super Bowl champion Broncos two years later.So Siemian is a role model for Thorson, but the original is Manning. Thorson wears his No. 18.You can imagine Thorson's reaction when Archie Manning, Peyton's father, called to invite him to the Passing Academy in Thibodaux, La."It was a missed call," Thorson said. "I looked down at the transcription: 'Hey, Clayton, it's Archie Manning.' Oh, no!"Thorson, one of 40 players at the academy, got to chat with Peyton and brother Eli many times. His takeaway?"How they handled their teammates when something went wrong," Thorson said. "There are times you yell, but you can't embarrass your teammates in front of everyone."The NU offense loses Biletnikoff Award finalist Austin Carr but returns the vast majority of linemen and playmakers, including tailback Justin Jackson and superback Garrett Dickerson."Last year you saw an amazing maturation Hauoli Kikaha Youth Jersey in Clayton's game," Fitzgerald said. "He went down to the Manning Camp and thrived. I look forward to a special season from him."

The calendar has now flipped over to July and http://www.authenticsteelerssale.com/shop-by-players-greg-lloyd-jersey-c-2_34.html that means the Pittsburgh Steelers annual training camp will be getting underway in Latrobe later this month. As usual, we have several series planned to get you ready for this year’s training camp and mine will center around preview profiles of 50 players over the course of the next 25 days. Most of these profiles will be on players who were under contract with the team in 2016.Up twenty-ninth in this series is a 2017 preview profile of center/guard B.J. Finney.Intro: Finney, the Steelers interior backup swingman, nearly played 300 regular season snaps last season due to injuries and that included him making three starts at left guard. The former undrafted free agent out of Kansas State showed during the regular season that he could be a reliable backup and especially during those starts.Current Strengths: Finney’s play at left guard last http://www.authentic49ersshop.com/shop-by-players-glenn-dorsey-jersey-c-1_23.html season was impressive and he showed that he could move and function effectively out in space and especially when asked to pull to the right side. He uses his hands well at guard and much, much better than he does at center. Balance is another strength of his.Current Weaknesses: As a pass protector, Finney needs some improvement and especially at the center position. His angles against A-gap pressure and twist recognition also needs improvement. While not asked to play center much in 2016, he struggled at that position when asked to play there. His snap timing and head bobs were off more than a few times. Needs to become a better anchorer and drive better off the snap against larger defensive tackles. Shorter arms hinders him at times.2017 Outlook: Finney should once again be Terrell Davis Youth Jersey the Steelers primary interior swingman in 2017 and thus his playing time will depend entirely on the health ahead of him. He’s a lot better NFL guard right now than he is a center, the position he mainly played in college.

NFL training camps are getting underway this http://www.authenticsteelersshop.com/shop-by-players-carnell-lake-jersey-c-2_52.html week, which means we are getting the last of offseason rankings. The latest comes courtesy of MMQB writer Andy Benoit, who ranked the top 400 players across the league.Benoit’s criteria was, “Does player A do his job better or worse than player B does his job?” He looked at “raw talent, cultivated skill set, and role within his team’s system,” and it was entirely film-based. If two players were too close to call, the tie was broken by which player had the more significant job.The San Francisco 49ers actually had a sizable crew of players make the list. They had 11 players, which put them ahead of teams like the Cleveland Browns (nine) and the New York Jets (five). I mention those two teams because they are the two teams viewed by many as the 49ers primary competition for the No. 1 overall pick. I don’t think http://www.coltsshopauthentic.com/shop-by-players-74-anthony-castonzo-jersey-c-1_29.html the 49ers will end up with the pick, but there is a lot of media coverage suggesting they will be in the mix.The 49ers on the list included the following (with his comments in quotation marks). The rankings are based on 2016 performance, which is why Bucker, Ward, Armstead, and Dial all have different positions than we will see them in this season.201 - Joe Staley, LT - “His age (33 at the end of August) is starting to show a bit in pass protection, but Staley is still a savvy veteran who occasionally flashes as a run-blocker.”220 - DeForest Buckner, 3-4 DE - “Buckner played with better leverage as his rookie season went on. He will likely play five-technique in defensive coordinator Robert Saleh's 4-3, where he'll have to fight more double-team blocks.”254 - Carlos Hyde, RB - “He's not a pure outside runner, which can be an issue against faster defenses like the Seahawks or Rams. What Hyde does have is good patience and deceptive elusiveness.”256 - Jimmie Ward, CB - “He has the makeup to be Kellen Clemens Youth Jersey a really sturdy slot corner, but the Niners are moving him to free safety. As an outside corner, Ward had too many subtle mistakes last seasons.”

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. - As the Denver Broncos http://www.officialvikingshop.com/shop-by-players-linval-joseph-jersey-c-2_41.html convened at the UCHealth Training Center here beginning July 26, the same story that dominated the offseason will remain the top headliner.There is a new head coach (Vance Joseph), a new offensive coordinator (Mike McCoy) and a new defensive coordinator (Joe Woods). But the focus will be on quarterbacks Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch to see which one will open the season when the Broncos host the division-rival Chargers in the second game of a Monday night doubleheader.Siemian has the advantage in terms of experience, having started 14 games in 2016, but the offense has been tweaked to play more toward Lynch's strengths, and he appeared to gain confidence during offseason work, particularly in his timing with starting wide receivers Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders.Joseph has said that he wants consistency from his starting quarterback, and with a veteran team, that is a priority. However, upside has to come into http://www.officialvikingssale.com/shop-by-players-stefon-diggs-jersey-c-2_43.html consideration, and if Siemian can't break free from Lynch, he could find himself as the No. 2 quarterback by Week 1 behind Lynch, whose first-round pedigree and raw arm strength could give him an advantage despite his scattershot moments.For the time being at least, Joseph announced Wednesday that Siemian will be the first unit for the opening practice of camp.On the defensive side, Woods, the defensive backs coach last season, takes over for the departed Wade Phillips and promised only minor changes from the way Phillips ran the defense."I don't want to come in and change the fingerprints or the foundation of our defense," Woods said in the offseason. "All I said is, I want to sprinkle a little sugar on it. It's something that will give us a little change-up, make offenses work at the line of scrimmage. That's all we're doing."Said cornerback Chris Harris Jr., "Our defense, we made little tweaks. We're not as simple as we have been in the past. In the past, we played so Troy Aikman Youth Jersey much man and just making it so easy for the quarterbacks. So now we're going to sprinkle in (some) different little things and make them think."

EDITOR’S NOTE: Many, many readers submitted questions concerning various aspects of the Le’Veon Bell situation, with the most http://www.authenticcowboyssale.com/shop-by-players-terrance-williams-jersey-c-2_21.html common being how the franchise tag tender is determined and how many times a team can use the franchise tag on the same player. These first two questions were selected to represent all of those:ED SWARTZ FROM NORWICH, OH:Can you explain how the NFL determined that Le’Veon Bell will get paid $12.1 million under the franchise tag, when the highest paid running back is only getting around $8 million this year?ANSWER: Under prior labor deals, the non-exclusive franchise tag was determined by the average of the five highest-paid players at each position from the prior year. Under the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, the franchise tender number is based on the five-year average cap percentage at each position. My suggestion is to do what I do, which is to wait for the league to announce the numbers and then just remember them. Trying to do the math yourself is too confusing.MARK ALBAN FROM NEW YORK, NY:Can the Steelers use the franchise tag on a player for three or more consecutive seasons, and if so, what would Le'Veon Bell's salary be if the tag were used on him in this manner?ANSWER: Players can be tagged in successive years, but it's expensive. For a player to be tagged in back-to-back years, the team must pay 120 percent of the player's previous salary the second time the tag is used. If it's three-straight years, the team must pay the player 144 percent of his previous salary. So for simple arithmetic purposes, let’s round off Le’Veon Bell’s 2017 salary at $12 million. Tagging him in 2018 would mean the number would be $14.4 million. Tagging him in 2019 would mean $20.74 million. CRAIG MAYLE FROM PROVO, UT:My fiancé and I will be spending some time in Pittsburgh after our wedding, since it is my hometown. While we're home, we'll be able to go to a Steelers training camp practice. It starts at 2:55 p.m., but would you recommend we arrive http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-cole-beasley-jersey-c-2_37.html earlier if it means we have a greater chance of meeting/getting an autograph from players? If so, how much earlier do you think?ANSWER: I hesitate to give advice on something like this, because I would hate for you to listen to me and then be disappointed if things didn’t work out as you had hoped. Generally, more players sign autographs after practice than before, but there is no way of predicting which players are going to sign on which day, and then whether that will be before or after practice. Personally, I never have understood the autograph phenomenon, and a day at training camp, for me anyway, would be about the chance to watch NFL athletes up close as they ply their trade and compete to earn a roster spot. But that’s just me, and it’s not meant as a criticism of you or anyone else whose day at camp would be made complete by leaving campus with some signatures. What I can tell you is that Coach Mike Tomlin signs autographs every day after practice, and he signs for anyone and everyone who is interested. That is something you can count on.STEVE OPRITZA FROM COLUMBUS, OH:For my 70th birthday, my wife presented me with a replica No. 70 Steelers jersey with my name on the back. In checking the current roster, I do not see a No. 70, nor do I recall a player who wore that number. Is that number not assigned, or has it been retired?ANSWER: No. 70 was worn by Ernie Stautner, who played 14 seasons for the Steelers – and only missed one game – from 1950-63. A defensive tackle who was the team’s No. 2 pick in the 1950 NFL Draft, Stautner played his college football at Boston College. In the NFL, he was a voted to nine Pro Bowls and was named a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s All-1950s team. He was voted either first-team or Tim Brown Youth Jersey second-team All-Pro 25 times by the various entities that picked those things back in that era. His jersey was retired by the Steelers in 1964, and he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969. Stautner died in February 2006 at the age of 80.

The San Francisco 49ers are making http://www.authenticsaintsshop.com/shop-by-players-craig-robertson-jersey-c-1_10.html big changes to their secondary this year, and expectations are relatively low outside the Bay Area. There is a lot of talent in the mix for the five roles (two corners, two safeties, one nickel), but a lot of inexperience and new roles.The team is moving Eric Reid from free safety to strong safety and Jimmie Ward from cornerback to free safety. Rashard Robinson is expected to take over one cornerback role, while Keith Reaser, Dontae Johnson, and rookie Ahkello Witherspoon are competing for the other role. K’Waun Williams was brought in to compete with Will Redmond for the nickel back role.Pro Football Focus is going through each position http://www.authenticsteelerssale.com/shop-by-players-greg-lloyd-jersey-c-2_34.html group and ranking out all 32 teams. On Tuesday, they got to secondaries. They ranked the 49ers No. 25. Teams behind them included the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, New York Jets, Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints, and Philadelphia Eagles.PFF had this to say about the 49ers new-look secondary:Depth is a big question mark all around the secondary. Jaquiski Tartt is the most proven backup, and he is almost exclusively behind Eric Reid. Lorenzo Jerome has stood out as a ball-hawk safety, and stands a decent shot of claiming a role, particularly if he shines on special teams. At safety, the biggest question is how Ward performs switching back to a role he hasn’t played since college.The 49ers got really young, really quick at cornerback this offseason, releasing Tramaine Brock and making the move with Ward. Ahkello Witherspoon has the length they want in press-favored cornerbacks, but he is still a rookie. Keith Reaser and Dontae Johnson are his competition for a starting job, but I could see an extensive Joshua Garnett Youth Jersey rotation through training camp and the preseason. With a new coaching staff in place, I am intrigued to see how quickly some of these younger players claim starting roles, or at least significant roles.

OXNARD, CALIF. Here my 10 thoughts from Wednesday’s Cowboys practice, the first day in pads:1. All eyes were on linebacker Jaylon Smith. The http://www.officialchargesshop.com/shop-by-players-antonio-gates-jersey-c-1_3.html good news was that he was in pads and on the field for the first time in 572 days dating back to his last game at Notre Dame when he suffered a devastating knee injury. He participated in eight plays on team drills and was around he ball on a couple of them. He was blocked very successfully at least four times. Again, getting on the field was the biggest step.2. Quarterback Dak Prescott practiced without resting Dez Bryant and Jason Witten. He looked at ease and comfortable, making plays down the field to Terrance Williams and Brice Butler. Williams had a drop that he punted on to the next field.3.Holes weren’t always plentiful for running back Ezekiel Elliott and he expressed his frustration at times. He was a big part of the passing game and Prescott will find ways to get him the ball.There is a chance Prescott could be bigger part of the http://www.authenticcowboyssale.com/shop-by-players-dez-bryant-jersey-c-2_11.html running game in 2017. With so much focus on Elliott, Prescott keeping on the zone read might be a regular feature in the offense. He ran it to perfection in practice and reeled off the biggest run of the day.4. There is a chance Prescott could be bigger part of the running game in 2017. With so much focus on Elliott, Prescott keeping on the zone read might be a regular feature in the offense. He ran it to perfection in practice and reeled off the biggest run of the day.5. First-round pick Taco Charlton got rudely welcomed to the NFL when he was pancaked by right tackle La’el Collins in pass rush drills. He then got into a tiff with fellow rookie guard/tackle Dan Skipper, who got the best of Charlton in team drills. The two hard words and nearly got into a scuffle.6. Rookie cornerback Chidobe Awuzie flashed some of his playmaking skills in one-one-one passing drills when he smothered receiver Brice Butler, forcing a tipped ball and an interception.7. With Orlando Scandrick sidelined with a veterans day off, the best looking cornerbacak on the field was second-year man Anthony Brown. He stayed with the shifty Cole Beasley a couple of times in the slot. He had a better day than veteran Nolan Carroll.8. Tackle Tyron Smith, guard Zack Martin and center Travis Frederick don’t seemingly break a sweat during pass rush drills. Smith rarely gets challenged while smothering defensive end Benson Mayowa. Frederick had the play of the day when he held off defensive tackle Cedric Thornton with one hand on one play and then layed on top off after knocking him to the ground on the next.9. The Cowboys offense had too many fumbles during drills Dan Bailey Youth Jersey with receiver Terrance Williams, fullback Keith Smith and tight end Blake Jarwin putting the ball on the ground. There were also a couple of bad snaps to the quarterback.10. There has been a lot of talking surrounding Jaylon Smith and with good reason. But don’t forget about his brother Rod Smith, who has a good shot to make the roster as the fourth running back if not No. 3. Smith runs well. He can catch the ball out of the backfield and is a good special teams performer.